An Do-geol, a Democratic Party lawmaker representing Gwangju Dongnam-eul, has been elected inaugural chair of the party's South Jeolla-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City branch.
The branch held its regular party convention Saturday at the multipurpose gymnasium of the Naju General Sports Park, where members voted An into the chairmanship.
In his acceptance speech, An said he would "lead the South Jeolla-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City branch as a powerful, united Democratic Party and lay the groundwork for recapturing power," adding that he would "unite the capabilities of 18 regional committees into one and serve as a bridge connecting the special metropolitan city, the National Assembly and the government."
He also said he would "open a new era of great economic leaps for South Jeolla and Gwangju, enshrine the spirit of May 18 in the preamble of the constitution and spread its values to the world," and pledged to build "a branch where 1 million party members are the true owners."
An won the election with a final vote share of 64.61 percent in a three-way race that also included candidates Kwon Hyang-yeop and Jo Gye-won.
Under the preferential voting system used in the election, no candidate secured a majority in the first count.
After the second-preference votes from Jo, who finished last, were redistributed to the remaining candidates, Kwon's final vote share came to 35.39 percent.
sij@heraldcorp.com
